Members' Notes:

We have a Cooper's Hawk who hangs out in our yard from time to time. As others have noted, we know he's around when the other birds get very quiet! Sometimes he sits on our backyard fence, which is about 15 feet from the patio door, waiting for some prey to show itself. I have watched him catch a sparrow in flight. In our part of the country Cooper's Hawks are also called Sparrow Hawks. We don't begrudge him of any of his kills. He's part of the ecology of our neighborhood.

The first time I saw this bird was when it caught a sparrow and eating it on my neighbor's tree. The backyard was suddenly quietly. The hawk really swallowed the bird whole and left nothing except only a couple of feathers. My vegetable garden was plaques by birds, mainly sparrows and juncos that eat all my seeds and young tender seedlings. The hawk is helping me otherwise all my vegetable will be nibbled to death. I lived close to the park and the small bird population is scary large and they are not afraid of people. Imagine a huge flock of small birds like in the Hitchcock movie swarming down in the yard and I constantly have to throw objects to scare them away.

I've always loved predatory birds and I was blessed last year when a pair of Cooper's built a nest and raised their 2 young in the woods on our property. It was amazing and the best part was the squirrel population was controlled. I would sit outside in the morning drinking my coffee and one of the juveniles was always watching me from a branch just above me. Their courting dance was amazing. I can't say enough about what a great experience this was to witness. They have since moved but they are in my yard every morning and evening.

When we first met a Cooper's, I was in awe seeing it perch outside our bird view window. It was seen only the once that winter. We didn't know much about him at the time, but did notice it was awfully quiet at the feeders.

By the next winter, having learned more of the hawk, we used to go out and chase it off when ever we saw it near our place. Especially after seeing several Junco feather piles. The Dark-eyed Junco is our favorite winter bird.

That following spring, our opinion changed somewhat. We didn't see the kill (Not sure I'd ever wish to), but it had supper when we did. A child noticed it eating when he glanced out the dining room window. It had a larger bird- maybe grackle sized and other then a few feathers, it wasted nothing.

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We also witnessed it dive for a rat that was eating from our squirrel twirly-gig corn cob feeder. Anything that eat rats rate high in my opinion. After doing some asking around, we learned that Cooper's hawks, like most species, are opportunists when it comes to food. Though their diet usually consists of medium to small sized birds, if a rodent is right there, it's going to grab it. Also, the more inexperienced Cooper's will hunt rodents rather than fast flying birds.

So this past winter when we saw ol' Coop, we set our minds to enjoy him/her, knowing he is as much a part of creation as anything else. Though saddened at any loss of a Junco or Goldfinch, we know it also eats less desirable creatures.

This bird is similar to the Sharp-shinned Hawk, but a little larger. There can be overlap in size between the female Sharp-shinneds and the male Cooper's so I try not to rely on that. A friend shared with me the tip she uses to tell them apart. Sharp-shinneds have no pants! The Cooper's will, meaning they will have feathers that cover the legs. :)

While grisly, raptors perform an important function thinning out weaker birds and keeping pest birds in check. While they may take some more colorful and less populous birds like Oriels, they mostly feast on finches and sparrows in my yard. There have been some very interesting recent studies on predators like wolves, that seem to imply that ecosystems can collapse when predators are removed from the environment. I say, enjoy them for their natural beauty and just look away when they eat. I included a photo of one of my visitors perched on my bird bath. He (or she) ignored my dogs, and let me get quite close to take that photo.

Although I can understand themikeman's frustration with the Cooper's Hawk and the experiences he has had, I do not understand why themikeman would want to kill it. After all, it IS a bird of prey that must feed itself and chicks if they are present in the nest. I cringe when I see one swoop upon a dove or a squirrel, of course, but do not wish in turn to violate the terms of nature--i.e., the survival of the fittest.

I usually love seeing large regal hawks and bird of prey but this bird is just nasty. it has really hot ugly and aggresive energy about it, whenever it comes onto my property or the neighboors yard, stalking sparrows and beautiful song birds. This past june 2010 i witnessed the same Cooper's hawk that usually just stalks from up in my back neighboors oak tree, fly into my front yard and viciously grab a large skinny male catbird and viciously toy with it in its talons while starting to rip it's head off and devour it while it was still half alive. mike

Twice I have witnessed a Cooper's Hawk fly to the ground, walk to a bush and peer up inside of it trying to flush out the songbirds who had just escaped its talons at the birdfeeder. Pretty smart bird!